Further Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA Concerns
Note: the following letter was sent to the board of directors of the CASPCA on Jan 23, 2023 and copied to all staff and volunteers. It builds on a letter sent Jan 17 that can be seen here: https://medium.com/@caspcaconcerns/charlottesville-albemarle-spca-leadership-concerns-47b1eb4e30b4
CASPCA Board,
Angie Gunter, Chief Executive Officer of CASPCA, is a callous and incompetent leader. She actively creates a hostile work environment for her employees and volunteers and she makes reckless, uninformed decisions that put animals’ wellbeing at risk.
In addition to a letter penned by fifty-seven people with first-hand knowledge of Ms. Gunter’s failures, published anonymously because Ms. Gunter often threatens her detractors with retaliation, 22 have now signed letters detailing their heartbreaking experiences at CASPCA. Another 18 have offered unsigned letters/quotes as they fear that speaking out on behalf of animals and workers will beget professional or personal retaliation. Dozens of others have reached out to us with their support or testified on social media.
Yet the Board does nothing. This choice is disgraceful. We don’t know why you’ve made this decision. We do know that the animals deserve better, the workers deserve better, and the community deserves better.
Please find linked more letters attesting to the untenable situation at CASPCA.
Letter from Aaron Yurkovic, former Canine Enrichment Specialist 2019–2021
Letter from Emily Halaszynski, former Marketing and Communication, 2019–2021
Letter from Megan Beuscher, former Foster Coordinator, Adoptions/Intake Manager 2020–2021
Letter from Lindsey Huffman, former Director of Lifesaving Services 2018–2020
Anonymous Letter from former Adoption Counselor 2022
Letter from Kelsey Taguba, Interviewee Adoption Counselor 2019
Anonymous Letter from former Animal Care 2017–2018
Anonymous Letter from Current Volunteer
Anonymous Letter from Current Volunteer
In addition, the following 3 letters were already sent to you with no response:
Anonymous Letter from employee sent to the board 2021
Letter from Kristin Swenson, former volunteer, sent the to the board 2019
The letters and comments are from staff who were employed at the very start of Angie’s tenure up to the present moment.
You have probably seen the thread on Charlottesville Reddit that has over 150 comments and counting, virtually all in support of our cause. There are numerous Facebook discussions, with many comments from former staff and volunteers further corroborating our message.
Angie’s ability to lead the current staff, as well as her standing in the community, has been irreparably damaged. We expect that donors and partners will be taking note of the dysfunction as well and directing their contributions to other, more functional animal welfare organizations.
Ask yourselves: why is nobody rising to Angie’s defense (besides Jan Cubbage, who has her own army of detractors)? Allowing Angie to continue as the CEO of CASPCA risks seriously damaging the shelter’s reputation in the community, as well as making people question the loyalties of the board: are you here for the institution and the animals or for Angie? At this point, it can’t be both.
